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I cannot stress enough how unprecedented this is.
Normally when a student fails their exams...
Yeah, they're kicked out. I know.
I want to come back to the Academy.
I've kind of had feelings for you since the start of last year.
If I'm coming back to the Academy, there needs to be a buffer.
I can't train with you.
I can't even be friends with you. That's crap.
If you choreograph my solo, do I still get co-credit?
Nope.
There's a crack running right through your L5 pars articularis.
I've broken my back?
Let's get you back here in six weeks.
Obviously no dancing between now and then.
What'd the doctor say? You were right. It was just a muscle strain.
Sweetheart.
Miss Raine's asking you a question.
When did you first know something was wrong?
There's always something wrong at ballet school.
You've got good pain, the kind of pain
that should make you a better dancer,
and niggly pain, the kind of pain that you want to go away,
and bad pain, the pain that you should be scared of.
Pain that could stop you dancing.
Prix de Fonteyn requirement.
They want to be aware of any potential or existing injuries.
Nothing?
I thought your back was hurting, Tara.
It was just a muscle. It's better now.
And we teach you here how to tell the difference.
You're right. I knew it was the bad kind.
They hate us.
They're terrified of us. Yay.
The Academy students are here.
In my year, only three students from the Academy
made it through to the nationals. It was a huge scandal.
Anything can happen on competition day.
Did I mention how much I love my good luck present?
We shall call him Shecki. I didn't get you a turtle.
Oh.
Mr Lieberman, I'll see you first.
Good luck.
Boys category champion.
I figure it's either you or me, but I have something you don't.
Yeah? What's that?
Killer instinct.
So let's make things interesting.
Whoever scores lowest has to...
wear a tutu for a day.
I can't not see that.
Today, he doesn't exist.
Thank you.
Tara, you're moving especially constipated today.
I'm supposed to be at the front.
Oh, we'll see you wherever you are. It's terrific to have you all here.
I'm Steven Heathcote, one of your judges today.
Twenty years as principal dancer. The man is superhuman.
We're going to start today with a fairly typical ballet class.
Then, this afternoon, you guys are going to show us your solos.
Should be a fun day. OK.
Demi, demi, reverse the arm, rom plie, rising up.
Port de bras forward and back.
Repeat second, fourth, fifth. Got that?
OK, let's go.
Couldn't get out any earlier. How's our boy doing?
Good. I think. I don't know.
My eyes aren't really focussing...
Your solo audition next? Uh-huh.
Bless you.
Sorry...
OK, ladies, pirouettes.
Here we go. Starting with the right foot behind.
And to the corner, one, two, three... four.
Four times on the diagonal and finish, OK? Here we go.
Would you like doubles or triples, Steven?
As many as you can do. Cleanly.
Thank you.
It's unofficial, but she said in the ballpark of a credit. Yay!
Couldn't have done it without me.
Katrina! I'm ready for you now.
Don't let Shecki watch.
Proud of you. Good luck.
Thank you.
OK. How much fun was that, hey?
Alright, guys, classical variations are first up after lunch.
So stay close. We don't want you leaving the grounds.
Alright, thanks.
Score.
Big Ben to Skinny Reed, come in Skinny Reed.
Skinny Reed, are you receiving?
Go ahead, Big Ben.
You are going to lose.
Hey. But not that man. That's the face of a winner.
You sticking round?
For at least another semester.
Yeah.
And Kat? She's still in there.
Check booking. Two passengers.
Where are you kids off to?
Ready to leave now. You were right.
I'm hurt. I need to go get a massage or a painkiller before my solo.
Doctor Wicks won't let you dance if you're injured.
You're going to see a doctor outside of the Academy?
Tara, that's the most fundamental rule.
Please don't say anything. Ah, finally!
You want to beat me, don't you?
I'm going to beat you.
Won't it mean more if I'm actually dancing?
Tara's disabled and you still think you'll be upstaged?
Grace!
Kisses!
Please don't drag it out.
Decapitation hurts less when it's clean.
The bad habits ingrained in your technique.
You've been working the wrong way for a long time.
You're right, I have.
Even more worrying is your commitment. Last year...
I threw away my place at the Academy. I know.
I think this is the part
where I make the speech about how this isn't just a phase.
How, before, I was fighting ballet
because I never got to work out for myself what it meant.
I'm not going to make that speech.
I should have just danced well enough to change your mind.
Then where are you going?
Sorry?
We've got work to do.
You... You're letting me back into the Academy?
This time, on your own merit.
Oh, that's really not necessary, Katrina!
Ahem.
You've danced on this.
Tara, if you keep going, there's a good chance
that you'd break the other side, and that's going to require surgery.
But if I stop, is it definitely going to get better?
Because I read somewhere
that sometimes these sorts of fractures never heal.
Well sometimes, but we won't know for about six weeks.
Hang on. So either way, she might never dance again?
My immediate priority is to relieve any discomfort,
so I'm going to give you a local anaesthetic.
But you have to promise me that you won't keep dancing, OK?
I promise.
Saskia... I was just coming to talk to you about Tara.
I'm really worried about her.
Me too. The judges are going to annihilate her this afternoon.
Look, I know that this is a lot to put on your shoulders,
but I need at least one girl to get through to the Nationals,
and Grace is... unpredictable.
How well do you know The Red Shoes?
I've seen Tara struggle through it a zillion times,
but what about the piece Ethan choreographed for me?
The Red Shoes, when it's performed right - unbeatable.
The parentals will be beside themselves.
Oh, did you hear? I am golden child.
You're in? Yay!
Oh, and thank you so much for Shecki.
It was the good luck charm that I needed.
I didn't get you a turtle. A secret admirer, Kitty Kat?
Ha ha.
Classical variations will commence in ten minutes.
Please clear the stage.
Hey. So I haven't changed my socks in three days.
It's a good luck ritual.
It's unnecessary. I've decided to go with another solo.
What?
But, Abigail, we've been working on this for weeks.
Uh-huh.
Hey I know, it's risky going with new choreography,
but, trust me, you're going to be fantastic.
It's amateurish.
Ethan, you might need it for your show reel, but I can do better.
Well, you do that, Abigail.
How has this been vaulted?
I didn't want anyone to talk me out of it.
Well, then brace yourself, pumpkin,
because it is lunacy to even think about dancing.
Tara, what if you make it worse?
And what if I don't dance and it still doesn't get better?
This could be my last chance to perform on stage.
This is not the day to be pessimistic.
I am coming back to the Academy.
You're going to have a bit of couch time with Sir Joshua,
and those movies that you like about horses,
and then it's going to be you and me, all the time.
Just like it was before.
Thank you, Mr Reed.
How do you feel about fuschia tulle?
Introducing Benjamin Tickle...
Here, hold these.
Watch how the grown-ups do it.
Dancing Don Quixote, representing the National Academy.
Skinny Reed to Big Ben. Careful on the double cabriole.
Oh, I think that was a deduction.
OK, you're going to have to dig deep in the pique turns.
I wasn't planning on coasting.
Pose in attitudes, focus on your upper body, OK,
'cause Tara's expressive.
There's no point doing this if you're not going to be better than her.
All semester, you've been entertainingly vocal
about how crap she is at this solo, and now...
I know why you hate her so much.
I don't. I've got the Academy to think about.
Please. I've been there with Tara jealousy.
I'm the youngest principal in the history of the Company.
I'm not jealous of anyone.
I knew she was good.
I just never thought she was good enough to scare you.
Excuse me.
So you're giving presents to Kat under the radar.
What's that about?
Nothing.
I just didn't want to make a thing about it, you know?
You know, Tara and I broke up months ago.
You did not just say that.
Hey.
You didn't leave.
Yeah, I was banking on my socks that you'd change your mind,
and judging from the costume...
That completes the boys' section.
Ladies with surnames beginning A to E,
please make your way to the stage.
So I have a question, dancer to choreographer.
Go for it.
I was just wondering if this was...
strictly a professional relationship between us.
Introducing Abigail Armstrong,
dancing an original piece by Ethan Karamakov,
representing the National Academy.
Did that clear it up for you?
Totally professional.
I couldn't decide between the turtle or the dugong.
You know how I said we can't be friends? Yes.
Cute, thoughtful presents contravene that.
I'll take it back then. It's no big deal.
OK.
Oh, no!
Give him back to me. Give him back to me.
Please!
You're breaking the rules, dude.
I'm telling the judges I'm pulling out.
Why?
No, you need a second opinion.
You want to have your cake and eat it too. I like cake.
Is that Kat?
She must be with Christian.
It's awesome for your ego to have a girl having a crush on you around.
But you also don't want to cut off all your options with Tara, either.
Are you done?
This thing, it isn't one-sided.
Tara... Leave it.
When I kissed you, that's something I'd wanted to do for a long time.
T, you can't listen to that.
You knew about this and you didn't tell me?
No, it was only a gut feeling.
T, where are you going?
Samuel, talk me through how we're celebrating tonight?
T, I swear I told him nothing was ever going to happen between us.
But you want it to?
Please don't dance.
Tara, you being OK is so much more important than any of this.
You say that,
but it feels like you're the one who just stabbed me in the back.
Introducing Tara Webster, dancing the Red Shoes,
representing the National Academy.
There have been a few times that,
when I'm dancing, I forget that I'm human.
My feet could be bleeding right through my pointe shoes,
and I don't even notice.
This... wasn't like that.
The anaesthetic must have worn off,
because I could feel everything,
and dancing wasn't making it better.
It was making it worse.
Thank you, Tara.
Unfortunately, it doesn't change the fact
that you lied about your injury.
You were aware you were breaking the rules
when you went to an outside doctor, and you did it anyway.
I have no choice but to expel you from the Academy.
Tara made a mistake. She's apologised.
Mr Webster, our rules are to protect
the health and safety of our students.
My daughter never would have lied in the first place
if this school hadn't put so much pressure on her... Stop.
It's my fault, not the Academy's. Sweetheart...
I just want to go home.